The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
JCU women surge to first place in OAC
The Blue Streaks are coming off a four-game win streak and have no intentions of slowing down
The plan appears to be working for the John Carroll University women’s basketball team at the midpoint of the season.
Coming off two subpar seasons that produced 15 victories and 36 losses, the 2018-19 Blue Streaks were picked for sixth place in the preseason poll.
Instead, standout sophomore forward Nicole Heffington and the Blue Streaks are 10-4 overall and alone in first place in the OAC at 6-1. They’ve won four straight games and eight of their last 10.
The Blue Streaks will be looking to remain atop the OAC standings Jan. 12 when they host Capital (9-5, 4-3 OAC) at DeCarlo Varsity Center. Tipoff is 3 p.m.
JCU coach Kelly Morrone said she is not surprised by how well her team has played to this point of the season.
“This is what we planned for,” Morrone said “There was some adversity the last two seasons, but we’ve done a lot of recruiting to get the right young women here to fit our team’s personality. It’s all about we, not me.”
Heffington, the former Mentor High School standout, is a dominant force at both ends of the floor and front-running candidate for OAC Player of the Year.
The 5-foot-10 Mentor High School product is averaging 17.5 points (second, OAC) and 7.5 rebounds (sixth, OAC).
In a 70-68 victory at Heidelberg on Jan. 8, Heffington netted a career-high 36 points, grabbed a gamehigh 11 rebounds and added four assists.
She is shooting 52 percent from the field overall and 40.5 percent from 3-point range while playing a team-high 30.7 minutes per game.
“Nicole is such a workhorse for us. She does everything we ask, no questions,” Morrone said.
Heffington’s strong play so far is a continuation of a standout freshman season in which she averaged 16.3 points and 7.6 rebounds. She earned OAC Freshman of the Year and First Team honors.
The Blue Streaks also are getting solid contributions from junior guard Dani Carlson (9.4 points, 3.6 rebounds), senior guard and former Chardon standout Kahrin Spear (6.8 points, 4.3 assists), 6-2 freshman center Olivia Nagy (6.8 points, 6.0 rebounds), senior guard Shmoo Pryor (6.4), sophomore guard Abby Adler (5.7 points, 4.0 rebounds) and senior forward Chelbi Graham (5.4 points, 4.) rebounds).
Rounding out Morrone’s rotation are junior guard Sarah Sprecher, freshman guard Leslie Aguilar, sophomore guard Sara Spicer and senior forward Bri Pittenger.
“This team has embraced numbers as our biggest strength,” Morrone said.
Morrone is convinced her players will not get caught looking past a good Capital team toward the showdown with crosstown rival Baldwin Wallace (10-4, 4-3 OAC) on Jan. 16.